Brazil's Workers Party plans to raise taxes on banks if candidate is elected

Lisandra Paraguassu

1 MIN. DE LECTURA

SAO PAULO, July 23 (Reuters) - Brazil’s Workers’ Party intends to raise taxes on banks as a way to force them to reduce their margins and charge less from consumers if it elects a president in October, former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad told Reuters.

Haddad, the main Workers’ Party economic adviser in the presidential campaign, said that banks which did not reduce margins would pay a higher tax rate.

State-controlled banks, such as Banco do Brasil SA and Caixa Economica Federal, would take the lead in the reduction of credit margins, he said.

The party intends to launch former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in jail for bribery since April, as its presidential candidate to the October election. In June, Lula was leading a first-round ballot simulated by pollster Ibope, with 33 percent of voters’ support.